Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-05-11


lcctive catch OF trout.
Joe Gid not reply. but with gloomy
and venceful expression. skunk into TIE
barn b. the small rear door, followed
by his wondering companion. From
beliind the cora-crib Joe hastily pulled
The bottom Of an old pasteboard band
box.
''hove It mp under my coat, behind
quick. Tad!' he exclaimcd, in an az
itsied whisper. "and then You 60 ahead
tD the brook-may be | can get oil
Lime-by. il don't hurt much Of any,
with XiS." added Joe. with n rather
sickly smile. as lac touched the small Of
his back significantly. "onIy I've got
TO get a new piece Of pastoboard--this
is pretty nigh worn out"
care yon coming. Joseph"
The vticc was Deacon Whi:ncy's,
and sounded from the wood-shed close
10y. Tad hed ignominiously through
the rear barn door. while Joe reluct-
antly obcyed the dircful summons. Not
that Deacon Whitney was unreason-
ably harsh or stern. Indeed. his vile
said: ''Joc's thrashil's hurt the deacon
q dretiIl sight msre'n they did Joe. y
which was doubtless true. The boy
knew that Lis father loved him sin
cerely, ard that the whippings were
not given in anger. but from sense of
duty. and, though he would willingly
have dispensed with them. Joe never
cherished the slightest feelings OF anger
or resentment, after the first smart had
pcsscd away.
Leaving Joe TO Lis impending fate,
Tad climbed the barn-yard fence, and
with juJilaat feeling Of gladness,
which was only shadowed ly the oc-
casiornl thought Of his new friends
disappointment, made his way down
across the delcOn's meadows, to the
brook.
Tad knew nothing whatever about
irout-f5hing, rs n matter of course.
lie had CAUGHT founders and cunners
| from the piers. like most city boys
but only those. However. he had a
general idea of some Of the require
ments for the piscatorial art. So. with
very light heart, he followed the
mill brook" as it WIS called. through
u field and an adjoining pasture, till he
came to an alder swamp. where, hay
ing CT. pole. Tad sat himself down to
shape and trim it.
| Wen. it was indeed lovely morn
ing. The sky above him. fleahed with
/ drifting white clouds. was of the deep
/ est blue. the air soft and spriug-like.
aud the peaceful stiffness unhrokcn
only by the occasional cawing of crows
or scream Of llucjay.
Tad sat drinking in the beauty of the
time and place, softly whistling to him
self Us he worked. and thought over tie
many strange things that had come iu-
20 his life in one short week. and nj
because an abscnt-minded man had lett
his traveling-sachcl on the seat in a
railroad station.
"Why. it just seems as though I'd
been swopped off for somebody else"
he said. with great sigh of thankful
ness. And though. rs might he ex-
pcctCd, Tad Thorne's religious knowl-
edge was Of the vagusst possible order.
he somehow felt his heart going out
thankfully to the Maker of such q
beautiful world.
There" said Tad, rs, finishing trim
ming the pole. he rose TO his feet and
brushed Off the twigs, "now for the
trout"
The brook went dancing and laugh
ing along at his side. with here and
there mimic waterfall. at the foot of
which the foam and bubbles drifted
about in frotly masses.
With fingers trembling q little with
excitement. Tad fastened his line, with
its heavy sinker and hook large enough
for black bass. to the end of the pole.
Adjusting the bait, he threw his line
into the deepest part Of the pool.
Il guess It isn't very good day for
trout, any way" he murmured. after
about five minutes of letting his line
drift along in the current, and pulling
it up again. But stop! a little tug at
the hook sent a thrill from his finger
tips to his toes! With q jerk that
would have landed three-pound trout,
Tad pulled out club about four inches
long. which. with hook, line aud sink
or, was Immediately entanglcd in the
alder branches over his head. requiring
some ten minutes of perspiring effort to
clear il.
Trout amt rs big ss thought for. :"
he said, half aloud. as he surveyed his
prize. at must take an awfal lot of
'em TO make mess." Tad added.
gravely, as he strung the small fish on
a twig. and made his way little fur
Their upstream, in his ignorance pass
ing over the deep pools and swelling
cddies, which are generally the Turk
inS-places Of the spotted beauties.
by eleven o'clock. Tad, who had
caught seven clrGbs, each about finger
in length, began TO think that the
charm Of trou,ing had been consider
ably overstated. 1t was rather early
in the season for mosquitoes, yet there
were quite enough of them about Il
make it quite lively for fisherman.
He had assembled the brock about two
miles. and WAS tired and decidedly
hungry; and, moreover. he found him
self right in the heart of what seemed
to Tad's unaccustomed eyes bound
less forest.
Sitting down on a stump. Tad gazeC
about him. wondering at the solemn
silence. Overhead. the wind sighe,
softly through the tops of the grea
pines. Red squirrels chittered in tn
spruce and hemlock trees, and par
ticularly venturesome one dropped
cone from an overhanGing bough a. hi
very feet, vanishing among the branchc
with wonderful swiftness, as Ia
looked suddenly up. A partridg
drummed in the distance, and wood